A –Jon K Asafo
B –Pat Thomas Enye Woa
After much online hype shrouded in mystery, Soundway
presents the first in a new series of 12” releases which will
make available many hard-to-find and in-demand dancefloor
tracks on loud, DJ-friendly pressings.
On this first 12” are two late 1980s Ghanaian highlife cuts
taken from the catalogue of Nakasi Records. Nakasi was run
by the late producer Nana Asiedu (Big Joe) - a well-known
figure in the Ghanaian and African music community of
1980s London.
The A-side showcases a track from Jon K’s second solo
album, which was a re-working of a traditional Fanti
language Asafo company song Asafo Beesuon. Made famous
by C.K.Mann on his seminal album ‘Funky Highlife’, this
version very much reflects the more westernised late 1980s
sound of highlife music recorded in the UK, Holland, Canada
and Germany for both ex-pat Ghanaian audiences and those
back home in West Africa.
The album features the stalwart session musician Alfred
Bannerman, the go-to Ghanaian guitarist known for the
classic cut of ‘Let Me Love You’ by Bunny Mack, among many
other tracks over the last 40 years, including his work on
contemporary releases for Soundway such as Konkoma and
Ibibio Sound Machine.
On the B-side, Pat Thomas (the brother in-law of Big Joe)
needs little introduction having been touring the world
extensively in recent years with the Kwashibu Area Band.
Somehow this dancefloor-heavy cut has eluded recent
compilations and reissues. With horns arranged by long
time friend and collaborator Ebo Taylor, it’s an instantly
recognisable sound that also features Rex Gyamfi - himself a
well-known purveyor of 1980s ‘burger-highlife’.
A –Jon K Asafo
B –Pat Thomas Enye Woa
